Man Convicted of Raping 4-Month-Old Girl

Published 7:00 pm, Friday, January 31, 2003

A Passaic man was convicted of raping a 4-month-old girl, and faces up to 20 years in prison.

Marcos Cabrera, 20, smirked as the verdict was read Friday in Superior Court and made an obscene gesture toward detectives as he was led from the courtroom to a holding cell.

He was convicted of aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault, and child endangerment for the July 2000 attack, which occurred in his home, where his cousin lived and baby-sat for the infant.

Cabrera initially told police the child was injured when he tried to stop her from falling off a bed, but later admitted assaulting the girl "two or three times."

His attorney, Ray Velasquez, said the confessions were coerced from Cabrera, whom he described as an uneducated illegal immigrant.

"Anytime you have a case where there is an alleged assault on a child, you've got a difficult hill to climb," he told The Record of Bergen County.

Laura Tencza, Passaic County's senior assistant prosecutor, said she was pleased that justice was done for the victim, who could not testify. The girl, who is now about 3 years old, seems to have suffered no lasting harm, she said.